Cut each chicken breast into three equal pieces, cover with clingfilm and bash with a meat tenderiser or heavy-based pan. (You don’t want to beat them wafer thin, but bashing prevents the meat shrinking during cooking). Remove the clingfilm. Place a sage leaf on each piece of chicken and wrap in two slices of cured bacon (so the bacon holds the sage leaf in place). Put a little olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken for about 15 to 20 minutes, turning frequently, or until golden and cooked through. Season with a knob of butter, some freshly ground black pepper and a little freshly squeezed lemon juice. To make the dressing, mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Place the risotto or new potatoes in the centre of each plate, spoon the black olive and red onion dressing around, arrange the chicken on top and serve at once.

In a small bowl, whisk the mustard, maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; set aside. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from skillet and return pan to medium-high heat until fat shimmers. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Cook chicken until golden brown and meat registers 160 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer to platter, brush with mustard mixture, and tent loosely with aluminum foil. (You might not use all of the mustard mixture depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to simmer. Stir in couscous, cover, and cook over low heat about 10 minutes. Stir cooked bacon, parsley and vinegar into couscous. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve couscous and chicken with any remaining Dijon sauce on the side.

Preparation: Take 1 butterflied breast of chicken and lay on cutting board. Lay 1 slice of cheddar cheese and 3 leaves of baby spinach inside. Starting at one end of chicken, roll tightly. Wrap 1 slice of bacon around outside and seal with a toothpick. Follow the same for the other 3 breasts. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Place 1 tablespoon butter in a baking dish and place in oven while preheating. Once preheated, remove baking dish (with melted butter) and place chicken rolls seam side down. Cook for 25-30 minutes until cooked through.

For the sauce, bring all the sauce ingredients to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 to 7 minutes. Sauce should thicken and reduce to about 1 cup.? Remove from heat. Transfer the sauce to a small bowl and set aside to serve with the chicken skewers.

Preheat the grill while you start prepping the chicken skewers.

Pat dry the chicken cubes with a paper towel then place the chicken in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine smoked paprika, sweet paprika, salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper.

Process the bacon in a food processor until a smooth paste forms, scraping down the bowl as needed.? Add the bacon paste to the spice mixture, then add all of it to the large bowl of chicken. Use your hands to toss the chicken to coat with the bacon paste mixture.? Place the meat onto skewers.

Place the skewers on the grill and cook covered, turning every 2 minutes or so, until all 4 sides are cooked through and chicken has browned and slightly charred. This should take 8 to 10 minutes total. Remove from grill and allow chicken to rest 5 minutes. Serve with barbeque sauce on the side.

Heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add chopped onions and garlic, cook a few minutes until softened and slightly browned. Increase heat to medium high and add chicken. Cook about 10 minutes until the chicken is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. In a bowl combine the sweet potato puree with the coconut milk and spices.

Add the coconut and sweet potato sauce to the chicken. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Add cherry tomatoes. Taste sauce and adjust seasonings to taste. Simmer about 25 minutes partially covered.

Stir in cilantro and cooked bacon at the end. Garnish with additional bacon pieces and cilantro. You can also serve with a dollop of thick Greek yogurt or some sour cream.

The weeks following our return from Japan proved to be a somewhat rocky re-entry. First, it reminded me how life does not wait when you are away, but rather piles up like the newspapers on your front step. Second, our jet lag combined with our girls’ new middle of the night loneliness made days next to impossible. Finally, after a week of eating better than maybe any other week of my life, what were our options when we got home? (I guess make everything out of koji.)

Ramen was our go-to lunch in Tokyo. Ramen here is no longer scarce, but scarcely very good. I spent most of my days after returning working consciously to not make mention of our ramen lunch habit. People’s eyes glaze over by sentence two of hearing about vacations. The response from those who actually responded with more than nods was frequently referring to the quarter per packet instant ramen and questioning why we would seek it out. Since these were the people nice enough to listen, I worked doubly hard to not condescend. I am not sure if I succeeded.

When I had to make something at home with egg whites, I was left with five yolks and a bad attitude about instant ramen. This stuff is awful – a complete salt lick. Say it again, “It is a complete salt lick.” Even if that salt was MSG, I had these egg yolks and a few weeks to figure out if I could use powdered ramen broth as a cure for these yolks (for more on cured eggs yolks look here or here). I dropped two dollars on eight package of ramen and planned to let the poison in the packets transform the yolks.

Before curing the yolks, I froze and thawed them first to remove their fragility. I am not sure what happens with the proteins when they freeze, but the texture changes and, in this case, it is for the better. Scientists, please educate me. Once they froze and then thawed, though, I lined a glass dish with a third of the mixture and gently laid the egg yolks which were then topped with the remaining powdered ramen stock. Within a day, the salt/MSG had leeched out a ton of liquid. By the end of the week, the yolks were swimming in concentrated “ramen”-ish liquid and fully cured.

When I removed and rinsed them, their appearance reminded me of the amber from the Jurassic Park films and the smell reminded me of a college microwave – in some ways better than nostalgic. After wrapping the yolks in cheesecloth and hanging them for four days, I unwrapped them and chilled them overnight.

The next day, I grated the cured and dried yolks over some cha soba. The still blazing hot noodles half-melted the cured yolks and released the salty, MSG laden aroma from the ramen seasoning. With the grated yolk giving richness and then the savory qualities from the seasoning, I realized the flavor of the seasoning is actually really delicious, even addictive. Only it needs to avoid the customary broth it fortifies. Using it almost like parmesan cheese avoids the puffy ankles and tight wedding rings which follow a bowl of Maruchan Oriental Flavor Salt Soup and gives the strong flavors in little blasts instead of in heaping spoonfuls.

While the pasta is boiling, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and brown the minced bacon. Remove the bacon and place on paper towels to drain.
Season the chicken with black pepper and a small amount of salt. Cook in the hot bacon fat for a few minutes until done and set aside.
In the last minute of the pasta boiling, add the bag of frozen peas and boil for a minute.
Drain the pasta and pea mixture, add it back to the pot and top with the olive oil and chicken.
Toss evenly with tongs. Serve topped with the Parmesan cheese and bacon crumbles.

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